Legislature panel OKs map

Friday

Mar 22, 2013 at 2:00 AM

A panel of Orange County lawmakers approved an amended redistricting plan Thursday, setting the stage for a vote in two weeks on a map that would establish new lines for the county's 21 legislative districts for the next decade.

CHRIS MCKENNA

A panel of Orange County lawmakers approved an amended redistricting plan Thursday, setting the stage for a vote in two weeks on a map that would establish new lines for the county's 21 legislative districts for the next decade.

The main changes made to the Republican-drawn map proposed just three weeks ago were adjustments made in the Newburgh and Middletown areas to enhance the voting power of Hispanic and African-American voters. They included the creation of a City of Newburgh district with a 59 percent Hispanic population.

Before voting, lawmakers discussed whether those modifications would ensure compliance with the 1965 federal Voting Rights Act and ease the threat of litigation — a concern several speakers raised at a March 11 public hearing on the redistricting proposal.

Despite assurances from a county planner who helped plot the maps, some legislators warned that lawsuits might be filed anyway. Michael Amo, who later cast the only dissenting vote, suggested sticking with the original maps if a threat of litigation remained. "I don't know if this does anything for us other than avoid one of 10 lawsuits," said Amo, I-Central Valley. Others acknowledged that uncertainty but argued the county had done its best to address concerns.

"There's no guessing as to what some judge is going to decide, but I think it's a good intent," said Dennis Simmons, R-Port Jervis.

Pressed by the Legislature's Democratic minority leader, Jeff Berkman, the Rules, Enactments and Intergovernmental Relations Committee also approved a minor change Democratic Legislator Myrna Kemnitz had requested, swapping two pieces of turf between legislative districts in her hometown of Monroe.

Patrick Berardinalli, a Newburgh Republican whose neighborhood would become part of that city's proposed Hispanic-majority district, argued against that modification, saying it would be a "drastic change" for Newburgh and might create a stigma. "That phrase is going to stick with that district," he said. "It's not going to be District 6. It's going to be 'the Latino district,' and I think there might be a stigma attached to that as we go down the road."

The panel's OK sends the modified redistricting plan to the full Legislature for a vote on April 5. Lawmakers are racing to adopt new lines in time for elections for all 21 seats this year.